Foreclosures are rising. Is it enough to shift the market, or just fuel real estate wholesalers with more deals to do?

According to ATTOM Data foreclosure filings leapt almost 30% between January and February this year. With a year over year increase of almost 130%.

That sounds like a lot, but it still only means around 26,000 new foreclosure filings for the month. That is sadly many individuals and families that could be losing their homes. Though it certainly isn’t enough to satisfy current demand.

There may be far more foreclosures in the works when you add filings and defaults from each month. Though most are being snapped up as pre-foreclosures before they become REO, due to the high amounts of equity in the market. Of course, banks may also see taking back properties as being attractive and profitable.

More Foreclosures Are Coming

One reason for such a large percentage spike in foreclosure activity is that the legal process is just recovering from moratoriums and shut downs.

With around just 1 out of every 2,500 housing units receiving a foreclosure notice in Jacksonville and Orlando, FL in February, the market seems much healthier than in 2008. When it wasn’t uncommon to see the foreclosure rate 5-6 times as high.

However, there are a variety of factors which could produce even more foreclosures, and motivated seller deals in the near future.

Opendoor has estimated it is holding $6B in unsold properties. That follows Zillow’s failure, with around 7,000 properties to unload. That could be added to with the failure of other big iBuyers like Offerpad.

Then there is inflation, which is cramping consumer finances. Even aside from groceries and gas, there are large hikes happening in taxes and insurance. Many will see jumps in property tax bills. Some condo and townhome owners are seeing their HOA dues jump by 300% to 400%.

Seeing The Opportunities

With such great end demand for real estate, investors will find any more distressed and motivated seller inventory very attractive. With the potential for better value deals, and more volume.

This doesn’t just have to be residential either. Some of the biggest wholesale deals we’ve seen recently are office buildings. Retail and mixed use could be areas to explore as well.

 

Motivated sellers are what fuel the business for real estate investors. If your sellers haven’t been motivated enough yet, here’s the one thing that might change that…

There are lots of ways to find ‘motivated seller’ leads today. You can buy lists, search public records, subscribe to real estate software, knock on doors, run Facebook and Google Ads, and more.

If you’ve made any volume of contact attempts, you’ve already run into this issue. Homeowners who should be highly motivated just don’t seem very motivated at all.

It can be really frustrating. You put in a lot of time, sweat and money to connect with these people. You know they are in some form of distress. You know they need help and are far better off selling their properties to you right now. You even genuinely want to help. They just don’t seem to want the help.

They’ll make crazy excuses. They’ll ignore you. They will bury their heads in the sand and just wait for things to fall apart and get a lot worse. Logic just doesn’t seem to work.

What can you do about it?

In this phase of the real estate market there is one great tool at your disposal. One that can really create urgency and motivate them to action and taking your purchase offer.

It’s sinking home values. Not just national property values or values in their city. It is the value of their own home going down that can really spark urgency.

Reeling of statistics about the national market or what’s happening in the city as a whole really doesn’t hit home. It doesn’t seem real. Who cares if the national average home value dropped by tens of thousands of dollars last summer? Who cares that that New York retail properties are diving by 25%, or no one is buying new condos?

Though what if someone told you that your home’s value just went down by $10,000 or $100,000?

It’s a different deal, right?

All of a sudden that means they’ve just thrown away all that money and equity by dragging their feet on taking action. It means that could lose double that in the next few months if they don’t do something right now.

Now inaction can lead to all types of very real and close consequences.

Show them how their own property value has declined. Show them how it is likely to keep declining. You just might get their attention.

The final two steps to turn this into an actual deal are:

1. They have to trust you are the one to help

2. Make taking action with you easier and more pleasurable than the alternatives

 

Use this free ebook as an opt-in download on your website to get more motivated sellers and build your pipeline, so you can wholesale and flip them.

Grab Part 1 of the ebook and swipe the copy here.

Look out for the final installment in Part 3 next week…

Ebook Continued...

4. Not Scheduling the Closing Well

In a traditional old school listing and sale you have very little power in setting the closing date. There are many other parties involved with their own interests. You are most likely waiting on a buyer’s mortgage company. You can negotiate it, but there are many other factors to negotiate as well.

Being able to pick a smart closing date, of your own choosing is important. You may need to close in less than 30 days. You may need to buy a little more time in order to get your next move in order.

You want to be careful of trying to schedule a sale and home purchase too close together. Delays can happen. You don’t want your family living out of a uHaul truck for two weeks.

There are certain days which are more likely to lead to delays as well. The end of the month and end of year are notorious for delayed closings as closing agents are so slammed. Friday afternoons can be tough too. If your closing happens late, you might not get your funds in your account until the following week.

5. Not Picking the Right Buyer

It may feel amazing to finally get an offer if you’ve been trying to sell for a while. Picking the wrong buyer might be even worse than the wait.

Ideally you’ll want a truly qualified cash buyer with no contingencies in your contract. If the buyer doesn’t really have the money, or they are relying on getting a mortgage or selling another home, it can become a drawn out process, with no guarantee of a closing. Worse, you usually don’t figure this out until the day you are supposed to close. That may mean a couple of months of costs down the drain, missing out on the best buyers, and having to start over again from the beginning, when homes may be selling for less.

6. Giving Up to Soon

Maybe you have seriously tried to sell your home yet. Maybe you’ve tried and had previous contracts fall apart. You may not have found the right agent, or there was a title issue, your owe more on a home than it is worth today, you’ve got past due property taxes, or other liens, or are in foreclosure or half of your home is burned down. Still, it is extremely rare that there isn’t a way to get the home sold.

You may need a specific kind of buyer, who has experience in these challenges, though it’s quite possible you can get a deal done.

7. Putting Yourself at Risk with Open Houses

Open houses are popular for two reasons. One because they generate buyer leads for other homes for real estate agents. Secondly, homeowners think that more open houses will help sell. Yet, according to the National Association of Realtors only 7% of homes sell as a result of open houses or yard signs. Less than a 7% chance. Those are pretty terrible odds.

Open houses are a big investment. They take time to plan and promote and host. They mean cleaning and accessorizing and curating the right smells and sounds and providing materials on all the area schools and crime rates and comparables.

All for what? Realtors and property managers have some of the most dangerous jobs. They are often hurt or robbed at open houses, or worse. Then there is the risk of theft and ID theft from letting people in your home. If your home is vacant the rest of the time, and they can see that, there is the risk of squatters moving in and claiming adverse possession.